The Los Gatos girls ran to a championship at the league finals at Crystal Springs. Gatos runners in the pack at the first mile mark include (l-r) Carolyn Penner, Simone Drucker, Aly Chavez (hidden behind Drucker), Lynsey Harris, Michelle Beritzhoff and Heather Hennessy.

Wildcats run to championships

Girls beat St. Francis, boys sweep top five spots

By Dick Sparrer

Only the top five runners score in a cross country meet.

But when the Los Gatos girls won the championship at the league finals last week, it was No. 6 finisher Simone Drucker who lifted the Wildcats to the title.

Drucker raced to a top-15 finish at the finals, but she was the sixth Gatos runner to hit the finish gate. Still, it was her effort that helped the Cats to a slim 31-32 victory over rival St. Francis.

"She outkicked the No. 5 St. Francis runner in the last 50 meters with a blistering kick," said Los Gatos coach Willie Harmatz of Drucker.

Because of her effort, the Lancers were stuck with an extra team point, and that was the Los Gatos margin of victory.

"This one-pont win over St. Francis was big for our program," said Harmatz, whose girls won the 16th varsity league title for Los Gatos in the last 18 years. "We deserved this. Everyone had a lifetime best time."

The girls championship was one of four titles won by the Wildcats in the five divisions contested at the league meet. Gatos also won titles in the boys varsity, junior varsity and frosh-soph divisions and finished second in the girls junior varsity race.

The varsity boys nailed the top five spots and seven places in the top 10 to easily win the league crown. Gatos ran up a low 15 points to 55 for second-place Saratoga.

Sophomore Michelle Beritzhoff starred for the Gatos girls, finished second overall in 18:52 on the 2.95-mile Crystal Springs course. It was the fourth fastest girls time on the course in LG history.

"Michelle has developed into one of the dominant runners in the CCS in such a short period of time," said Harmatz of Beritzhoff, who is a first-year runner for the Cats. "I'm excited about her future."

Carolyn Penner ended up seventh in 20:00, with Kate Leary ninth in 20:03, Lynsey Harris 10th in 20:08, Aly Chavez 12th in 20:37 and Drucker 13th in 20:40.

Heather Hennessy, the No. 1 runner for Gatos, had to drop out of the finals with a badly bruised hip.

Penner, just a freshman, outkicked a St. Francis runner in the final 5 yards.

"That won the meet for us," said Harmatz.

Beritzhoff, Penner, Leary and Harris each won all-league spots with their efforts.

The Los Gatos boys swept the top five places at the finals, a first in school history, to win the eighth straight league title for the Gatos boys.

Russ Martin won the league title in 15:41, good for a No. 9 ranking on the all-time Gatos list.

Matt Bates finished second in 16:13, with Zack Regner third in 16:15, Tomas Viramontes fourth in 16:16 and Jeff Hoeft fifth in 16:41. Darren Key came through with an eighth in 16:55, and Greg Tolan was ninth in 16:57, giving Gatos seven runners in the top 10. All seven won all-league recognition.

"It was complete league domination," said Harmatz. "It was a good tune-up race for CCS."

Los Gatos will try to repeat as CCS champions when the finals are held Nov. 13 on the same Crystal Springs course.

"We can win CCS in both the boys and the girls," said Harmatz.

Billy Stanton was first in 17:48.1 to lead the Gatos JV boys to a title. Mike Rossmassier was second in 18:05.4, with Tim O'Dell third in 18:27.2, Doug Penner fifth in 18:52.6 and Tim Chen eighth in 19:31.9.

Jason Yuki finished third in 18:03.5 to lead the Gatos frosh-soph boys to a championship. Shaun Sullivan was seventh in 18:57.2, with Nelson Bradley eighth in 19:04.0, Clay McKell 12th in 19:17.0 and Will Lampe 13th in 19:19.4.

Merin Clark, Theresa Rehder, Angela McBeath and Jenny Rubnitz each finished in the top 10, but the Los Gatos girls finished second to St. Francis in the junior varsity division.

Clark was second in 20:38, with Rehder third in 21:15. Both will join the CCS varsity.

McBeath ended up fifth in 21:31, with Rubnitz 10th in 22:06 and Andie Knudsen 11th in 22:12.

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